The Brazilian industrial business community is more confident this month compared to January, according to the Industrial Business Confidence Index (Icei) released today (24) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).
According to a survey carried out between the 1st and 9th of February, with 1,979 companies, confidence advanced in 21 of the 29 sectors consulted. The result places 19 industrial sectors in a state of confidence.
According to the Economic Analysis manager at CNI, Marcelo Azevedo, the recovery of confidence is the result of greater optimism shown by businessmen in the industry for the next six months. “There is widespread reflection that the company will be better off in the future,” he said.
The economist explained that it has not yet been possible to recover the lack of confidence of the last three months. The Icei is formed by two indicators: one deals with the next six months and the other evaluates the current conditions compared to the previous six months.
The assessment regarding the current situation is still negative. The Current Conditions Index shows that 27 out of 29 sectors report that current conditions are worse than those seen over the past six months.
Regions
The February Icei showed confidence in four regions of the country, except for the South. The main increases occurred in the Southeast, which went from 47.7 points to 50.3 points, and North, where the Icei rose from 51.7 points to 54.2 points. The indicator ranges from 0 to 100, with a cutoff of 50 points. Data above this cutoff indicate confidence and below that, distrust. When crossing the dividing line, the Southeast migrated to a state of confidence, indicates the survey.
The Midwest, with 52.1 points, and the Northeast, with 54.4 points, remain confident. Only the industries of the South region, which reached February with 46.3 points, are pessimistic.
The February Icei was positive among large companies, but remains negative for small and medium-sized industries. CNI research proves that trust has advanced in industries of all sizes. However, the only advance capable of leading to a change from mistrust to trust was registered among large companies, with more than 250 employees. Among them, the index went from 49.7 points to 52 points.
In the case of small and medium-sized industries, the indices were below 50 points, which shows that they lack confidence. Among small and medium-sized companies, the index rose from 48.8 points to 49.6 points and, among medium-sized companies, from 48.6 points to 49.7 points.
The sectors identified as most confident are pharmochemicals and pharmaceuticals (60.4 points), cleaning products, perfume and personal hygiene (57.1 points), electrical machines, appliances and materials (53.5 points) and extraction of non-renewable materials. -metallic (53.3 points). Among the pessimistic sectors are wood products (43.3 points), non-metallic mineral products (45 points), apparel and accessories manufacturing (46.4 points) and furniture (47 points).
